Williams, Lo lead Bayern to first road win

FC Bayern Munich registered its first road win of the EuroLeague season by topping Herbalife Gran Canaria 74-89 on Thursday. Bayern improved to 4-5 in the standings, while Gran Canaria dropped to 2-7. Maodo Lo led the winners with 22 points, Derrick Williams added 20, Petteri Koponen and Vladimir Lucic each had 11 and Devin Booker posted 10 points and 11 rebounds for Bayern. Marcus Eriksson and Ondrej Balvin led Gran Canaria with 15 points apiece and D.J. Strawberry scored 11 for the hosts.

Lo shined early to give Bayern a 2-6 lead. Anzejs Pasecniks and Nikola Radicevic rescued Gran Canaria and a three-pointer by Strawberry gave the hosts their first lead, 9-8. Williams had all the points in a 0-6 Bayern run, Lo scored in penetration and a three-pointer by Koponen pushed Bayern ahead 15-19. A jumper by Nemanja Dangubic and a put-back slam by Balvin fixed the score at 17-21 after 10 minutes. Xavi Rabaseda dunked off a steal early in the second quarter and Balvin added an alley-oop slam, but an outstanding Koponen restored a 23-28 Bayern margin. Williams struck twice from downtown to make it a double-digit game, 25-36. Pasecniks and Kim Tillie rescued Gran Canaria and a deep triple by Oriol Pauli brought his team within 38-44. A tip-in by Balvin got the hosts even closer, 42-46, at halftime. Back-to-back layups by Radicevic and a dunk by Balvin drew Gran Canaria within 50-51 soon after the break. Williams dunked and back-to-back layups by Lo gave Bayern fresh air at 52-57. Strawberry and Eriksson each hit a triple in a 10-0 run that put Gran Canaria in charge, 62-59. A tip-in by Booker got Bayern within 62-61 through three quarters. Koponen found Booker for an alley-oop dunk and added a jumper for a 62-65 Bayern lead early in the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Eriksson got Gran Canaria within 70-71, but Lo and Lucic answered from downtown, which caused the hosts to call timeout at 70-77. Lucic insisted from downtown and Nihad Djedovic added another one that capped a 0-16 run that sealed the outcome, 70-87. Gran Canaria kept trying, but Bayern had cruised to a well-deserved win.

Pivotal performer

Williams scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half, allowing Bayern to lead for the best part of the game. He finished the game with 3 rebounds, 3 fouls drawn and a PIR of 17 in just 22 minutes.

Game-changing moment

A three-pointer by Eriksson brought Gran Canaria within 70-71. Lo answered from downtown and Lucic added back-to-back triples in a 0-16 run in which both players combined for 11 points. Gran Canaria never recovered after that.

Stellar stat

Did you notice?

Lo set a new career-high with 22 points on near-perfect shooting (7 of 7 two-point shots, 2 of 3 from downtown and 2 of 2 free throws). He added 5 assists, 2 steals and 4 fouls drawn for a PIR of 28, also a new career-high.

Next game:

Both teams return to EuroLeague action on Thursday, November 29 - Gran Canaria visits Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul and Bayern travels to Israel to play against Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv.

Head Coaches

MALDONADO, SALVA

Herbalife Gran Canaria

"First of all, congratulations to Bayern Munich. They played very well. It was a good game in general. Bayern dominated the five, six final minutes. In the previous 35 minutes, we played well, with intensity. In that moment, Bayern made three open shots and broke the game. My perception is that we ran out of strength; we fought until we could. We missed a three, then they hit a three to go up 10, then a layup gives them a 12-point lead... and that is when the team tried and couldn't catch up. We fought until then, but couldn't get the win. They scored 12 points in the most critical moment, we missed shots and they made it. We put out a lot of effort to keep the game 70-71 and that is when they made the difference."

RADONJIC, DEJAN

FC Bayern Munich

"It as a good win for us. In the beginning, we played the way we wanted to play, offensively and defensively. In the second quarter, We had a lot of problems in transition defense and box out situations. We lost control in the third quarter offensively and started to play like they wanted us to play, but the fourth quarter was different, offensively and defensively. Our defense was quite good and we did well on offense in important moments. I can say this is a big success for us and I hope that we will have all players available in our next game. It would be important. Congratulations to my players and I hope we will be ready for our next game, an important one for us."

Players

BAEZ, EULIS

Herbalife Gran Canaria

"We were fighting until the last five minutes when we are almost tied on the scoreboard. They scored great shots during three minutes that gave them a 10-point lead. We could not recover on the offensive side and we made bad decisions in the end."

WILLIAMS, DERRICK

FC Bayern Munich

"This is very important for our season, especially because it's our first road win in the EuroLeague. We lost two tough games at home to two very good teams. This was another very good team. It's just another big confidence booster for our team. It was a complete team win. I think everyone contributed who played. The fourth quarter was huge. We got a lot of stops. and at the end of the first half, we needed to got a few stops and we did. We are a little banged up. We have a couple of guys hurt, guys sick, but that's no excuse. We came to get a win and that's what we did tonight and we're looking forward to our next one."

LO, MAODO

FC Bayern Munich

"It's a great win, its tough to get EuroLeague road wins. They came back in the second half. So it was a tough win. I'm glad we were able to come back in the fourth quarter and get it done. Every EuroLeague game is difficult to win. This is a very valuable win for us and I'm glad we got it."